This professional training program operated by the International Media Center organized more than 500 seminars, workshops and other training activities for 6,838 participants with more than 60,000 training days. The program —the largest professional development program ever undertaken in Latin American journalism— encouraged journalists, journalism educators and media owners to make a critical examination of the role of a free and independent press. For eight years the program published the widest-read journalism review in the Spanish language, Pulso del periodismo. The magazine circulated among journalists and educators in Latin America and the United States. Pulso —now available only on the Internet— carries articles on journalists and news media. There is a heavy emphasis on articles dealing with press freedom issues.

The International Media Center and its Latin American Journalism Program benefit the democracies of the modern world through the professional development of journalists working on local and national news outlets. Those who participate in the program acquire a etter understanding of the role of the free press in democratic societies. The program foments a critical examination of the profession by providing journalists, owners and educators opportunities to exchange experiences and to reflect on their work, their thics and their responsibilities toward society. An additional, but no less important, benefit is an intellectual exchange among journalists of the region who may hold different, or even antagonistic, points of view.

The journalists themselves have identified this opportunity to learn from and work with colleagues from other countries as one of the program's most important benefits. There is a heavy emphasis on ethics throughout the program.

Twenty Latin American journalists completed their work on a master's degree in Spanish-language journalism designed by the IMC. This master's program was so successful that the School of Journalism and Mass Communication made it into a permanent fixture, becoming the first journalism school in the United States to offer a graduate journalism program entirely in Spanish.

The Centro Latinoamericano de Periodismo, opened in Panama City in 1997, has become the training arm of the Latin American Journalism Program. The Centro offers workshops and seminars for groups of journalists and conducts in-newsroom training for newspapers, radio and television stations. Operation of the Centro is partially funded by an endowment created by media owners in the region.

The Media Directory is the guide to names, addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses is the most complete listing available of Spanish- and Portuguese-language news organizations in the Western Hemisphere. The directory is now available exclusively online so that it can be continually updated. It also contains a description of the media scene in each country so that readers can judge which outlet or outlets best serve their needs.